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Farm women of the twentieth-century South have been portrayed as oppressed, worn out, and isolated. Lu Ann Jones tells quite a different story in Mama Learned Us to Work. Building upon evocative oral histories, she encourages us to understand these women as consumers, producers, and agents of economic and cultural change. As consumers, farm women bargained with peddlers at their backdoors. A key business for many farm women was the "butter and egg trade--small-scale dairying and raising chickens. Their earnings provided a crucial margin of economic safety for many families during the 1920s and 1930s and offered women some independence from their men folks. These innovative women showed that poultry production paid off and laid the foundation for the agribusiness poultry industry that emerged after World War II. Jones also examines the relationships between farm women and home demonstration agents and the effect of government-sponsored rural reform. She discusses the professional culture that developed among white agents as they reconciled new and old ideas about women's roles and shows that black agents, despite prejudice, linked their clients to valuable government resources and gave new meanings to traditions of self-help, mutual aid, and racial uplift.

Papers, chiefly regarding her husband, Hugh McLean's, death and the settling of his estate. Includes papers, 17-24 October 1841, re Ann Briggs' marriage to Hugh McLean; letters, April-May 1844, from Eliza & Benjamin L. McLauchlin, Columbia, South Carolina, and [Reverend] Arch[ibald] McQueen, Kingsboro, to Ann, Laurel Hill, North Carolina, re her husband's death; letters, 31 December 1845-20 April 1849, chiefly from Columbia, to Laurel Hill, regarding family matters and the settling of her husband's estate, including 31 December 1845, 7 September 1846, and 24 February 1851, from B[enjamin] L. McLauchlin, Columbia, F.W. Green, Columbia, and W[illia]m McLeod, Laurel Hill, enclosing $62, "which is the difference between the hire of your [enslaved African-Americans] this year and the interest due on the purchase of Leah and family" reporting that he purchased the [enslaved African-Americans] belonging to her husband's estate as well as a house and land, noting--"the [enslaved African-Americans] were very uneasy for fear that something might turn up, to their disadvantage," and mentioning damage to his canal from heavy rains; and re his intention to make payment on a note but explaining that he wanted to hold his cotton until the market improved, reporting that her family and friends were well, and advising--"you tho a female know considerable politicks and I wish you to dissuade your friends from any movement that may tend to secession as it would certainly be an imbecile and dangerous movement"; 13 June [1865] and 26 September 1866, Elizabeth [McLauchlin], Worcester [Massachusetts], describing conditions in the North.

Includes a compilation of poetry, life essays, and short stories by the members of the Pixie Chicks' Writers Group.

Breastfeeding is recommended as the optimal source of nutrition for newborns for the first 6 months of life and beyond with the addition of complementary foods. While breastfeeding initiation rates have been increasing, duration rates remain a concern as many women prematurely discontinue due to difficulties encountered rather than maternal choice. In addition, there is a sizable gap between rates of exclusive breastfeeding and current recommendations. Targeting modifiable variables that may be amenable to intervention is one strategy to improve breastfeeding outcomes. One such modifiable variable is breastfeeding self-efficacy. Although research has clearly shown that breastfeeding self-efficacy is predictive of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity, it is unknown whether it can be enhanced to improve breastfeeding outcomes. The purpose of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to examine the feasibility and compliance of a newly developed trial protocol and the acceptability of an intervention to increase breastfeeding self-efficacy in the immediate postpartum period. Secondary outcomes included determining whether there were any trends between groups related to breastfeeding self-efficacy, duration, and exclusivity. Participants included 150 primiparous mothers who were breastfeeding their healthy, full-term infants. Eligible and consenting mothers were randomized to either a control group (standard postpartum care) or an intervention group (standard postpartum care plus the self-efficacy intervention). Participants allocated to the intervention group received three individualized, self-efficacy enhancing sessions with the researcher; two sessions were conducted in hospital, and one was administered via telephone 1 week following hospital discharge. A research assistant blinded to group allocation collected outcome data at 4 and 8 weeks postpartum. The results suggested that the administration of the intervention was feasible and that there was a high degree of protocol compliance; the majority of participants reported that the intervention was beneficial. Secondary outcomes identified that there was a trend among participants in the intervention group to have improved breastfeeding outcomes, including higher rates of breastfeeding self-efficacy, duration, and exclusivity at 4 and 8 weeks postpartum. Preliminary evidence also suggested that the self-efficacy intervention may have assisted to decrease perceptions of insufficient milk supply among the intervention group participants. Overall, the findings from this pilot trial indicated that a larger trial is warranted.

Petticoats and Pretty Pills is a collection of poetry and prose told through an urban girl's lens as she navigates society, relationships, mental health and her new love... prescription pills. This book is divided into three chapters, and each chapter deals with various life pains, heartbreaks, and vices used to cope on the road to finding love.